Method of and means for aligning pump liners within pump shells



Nov. 6, 1928.

L. P. BURGESS METHOD OF AND MEANS FOR ALIGNING PUMP INERSMITHIN PUMP SHELLS led Oct. 2, 1926 11706;? for @516. P307655 Patented Nov. 6, i928.

UNITED, STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LYsLE r. BURGESS, or LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, AssIGNoR, BY MESNE ASSIGN- MENTS, won. 2. BURGESS, n. DANIELS, .r. 0. cnnrrnn, AS TRUSTEES.

METHOD OF AND MEANS FOR ALIGNING PUMP LINERS WITHIN PUMP SHELLS.

Application filed October 2, 1926. Serial No. 139,198.

This invention has to do with a method of and means for axially aligning pipe sections within an outer pipe or shell from which said sect-ions are to be annularly'spaced.

While the invention, considered in its broader aspects, is applicable to any structure where the above conditions'are to be brought about, it is particularly useful in connection with the alignment of liner sections within pump shells, and I will thereported a series of liners held together in axial alignment under longitudinal compression. The reasons for making up the liners of a plurality of sections rather than of a single length of pipe are well known to those skilled in the art, and therefore need not be dwelt upon here. It will sufliceto say that the liner sections are necessarily very accurately machined and ground to take the pump plunger, and it is, of course, vitally important to the eilicient operation and life of the pump, both as regards the liner and plunger, that the liner sections by very accurately lined up so the joints betweenthem are perfectly smooth.

Heretofore, many different methods and means for lining up the liner sections have been utilized, all of them requiring equip ment, and knowledge only found in pump factories. Asa consequence, when the liners become unduly worn it has been necessary that the entire barrel be. sent from the field to the factory for liner replacement,itthaving been found entirely unfeasible to ship the liners to the field and have the field operators attempt to insert and line up the sections.

Therefore, it is among the principal objects of my invention to provide a! method. and means whereby the lining up of the liner sections may be accomplished with ease and accuracy without the use of special equiphalf on one section and the other half on the prevents the bushing from shifting longiment or knowledge. It therefore becomes possible to ship to or keep available at the field a supply of new liner sections, so when. occasion for replacement occurs, the field operators may re-line the barrels easily and quickly. The economic advantage of this is obvious, for it saves time, labor, and expense of shipping as well as materially reducing the length of time a well must be shut down during replacement operations.

The plunger construction which permits of such easy, rapid assembly orliner replacement, embodies centering 0r aligning bushings used in connection with the plunger and liner sections, said bushings being located at the opposed ends of adjacent sections. These bushings are adapted to have outer peripl eralcngagement with the barrel and inner peripheral engagement with the adjacent sec tions at points near their opposed ends. 9 With the bushing of given cross sectional characteristics used in connection with sections of given outside diameters, it will be seen that 'this'contact of the sect-i 011s and shell with opposite sides of the bushing serves acc-u- I0 ratel to center said sections within the shell and hence align them axially with one another. r

As a means for guiding the sections into axial alignment, the opposed ends of the sections are shaped to have angular engagement with said bushings during relative movement therebetween. This angularity is brought about by cutting the opposedends of the sections oppositely and preferably equally so, when the sections are in end engagement, there is formed a groove or channel about the liner at the joining point of the sections, said groove preferably being symmetrical, .one-

adjacent section. The bushing is adapted to seat within this groove and engage the inner peripheral wall of'the shell. This seating of the bushing within the annular groove or) tudinally with respect tov the sections after thelatter are in place, the bushing thereby being adapted to maintain the sections in alignment. I

The metbodof assemblingthe barrel is to During themoyenient of the bushing longi-.

tudinally through .theouter pipe, it is highly desirable that it be maintained in a plane substantially parallel to a cross section plane of the pipe, for obvious reasons, and while this result may be obtained by giving s'ufii'cient longitudinal extent to the area of engagement between bushing and pipe, the preferred term of'my bushing is a wire ringo'f circular ero ssesection, the surface of contact'between the ring 'andsli'ell being ofsuch little lo'ugitndinal eitenttliat is liable to coclior swing out of square Therefore, wherethe bushing is of such .characteristics that it has a tendfeiicy to swing'out of square,ivitl1 respect to the pipe hore,it is preferable that means he provided on thesections for preventing such undesired movement. This mean I provide in the nature. of shoulders preferably square out which entend'from the angular shoulders heretoilore described, and partially definin rthe annular groove formed at the endsof adiacent; sections.

It has heretofore been stated that the bushin i is in peripheral engagement with the inner wall of the shell, and asa means for securia such en a einent"without callin' for M K a D D i b accurate machining of thebushing, I preferably utilize a radially" expansible bushing, that is, .one which may initially radially contracted to allow easy entry to the pipe bore and thensprings outwardlyinto engageinent withthe'pip e. Wire of circular cross section which has sufiicie'nt uniformity of cross-section to insure centering may he purchased on the open markeh and thus forms an ideal material for the purpose. This spring wire may be'readily cut to length and given ring-like formation, becoming a sp it 's irin'g ring preferably so formedthat it must be initially "contracted radially for entry to the pipe bore and then, by reason of its inherent resiliency, spring into contact with the pipe.

However, while the preferred bushing is thus n the form of spring wire of circular crloss-s'ecti on and is split rather than contint ous', these characteristics are not essential tothe finishing, considering the intention irrits broaderaspeets, and only such claims as are drawn specificall to those features areto be considered as l mitedthercto Further objects and features of novelty'of the invention wilhbe made apparent in the following detailed-specification, reference being had tothe' aecompanying drawings in which:

"lf'is a longitudinal section partly in in 'the ends of the sections having slightly diii'erent characteristics; y

Fig. 5 is a slight variation of Fig. 4;

Fig.1; shows another variational form of the liner section ends;

Fig/rshowsa variational form of bushing; a Fig. 8 is a reduced section'online8-8 of i i i L v RI In 1 Ihav'e illustrated a pump, made up of a Jarrel generally indicatedatlO, an extension 'nipplje ll connected to saidbarrel by lower collar 12, a standing valve shoe 13 on nipple 11, a plunger 14.- adapted to be re cipro'cated through the valve and connected by Garbutt rod 15 to standing valve 16. Barrel 10 is made up of outer shell 1'} and a sectional liner generally indicated at 18, the liner sections beingannularlyspaced from shell 17 and beingheld under longitudinal compression by collars 12 and 19at opposite ends of the shell. I have here shown liner 1 8 as made up of the three sections 20, 21, and 22. though it will be understood that, depending u on the length of the barrel, said liner may e made up of only two or more than three sections, and that theformationhereinafter ascribed to the opposed ends of two particular sections,

are to be considered as-typical, or characteristic of the opposed ends of all the sections.

Collar 12 is provided with a counter-bore 23 which nicely takes the lower end of the lowermost liner section, establishing the position o'f said end in: concentricity with the inner wall of shell 17. Likewise, collar19 is formed with a counter-bore 24 adapted to take the upper end of uppermost section 20.

ring of wire, said wire being of circular cross section of predetermined diameter andhav- 111g resilientcharacteristics. The ring is so formed initially that its inherent tendency is to expand radially to a largerdiameter than the bore of shell 17. Preferably. though not necessarily, the material of which bushing 25 is made is somewhat softer thanot which the linersections are made, so, if and when the bushing is considerablyleompressedbetween ion " the opposedends of the liners,the bushing be the sections.

will be deformedto a greater extent than will The opposed ends of the liner sections are so shaped that they have angularengagement with the bushing when moved longitudinally with respect thereto, it following thatwith the bushing of predetermined cross-section and with the section diameters of given dimension atthe points'where they engage the bush ing when the two sections are inendcOntact', said sections will be'inaxial alignment by virture of their equal annular spacing from the outer pipe. i i

The angular engagement of the sections with the bushing serves to guide said sections into axial alignment should they be disaligned during their approaching movement, and it will be understood this condition of dis-alignrnent ordinarily exists.

In Fig. 3 I have shown the opposed ends of liners 21, 22 cut angularly and oppositely equal as at 26 and 27, so, when said liners are inend engagement, shoulders 26 and 27 define an annular groove 28 of V-cross section about the liner, asa whole, the bushing 25beingseated within this V-groove and thus engaging shoulders 26 and 27 at points equally spaced from the cross section plane P, and in outer peripheral engagement with the inner wall of pipe 17. i V p t In assembling the barrel, lowermost section 22 is first-loweredqinto place, that is, with its lower end in centering counter-bore 23, the upper end of said section being free to move somewhat radially. Spring bushing 25 is then compressed sufficiently to allow its entry into the upper end of the bore of shell 17. Section 21 is then inserted through said oneend and pushed downwardly, forcing before it the bushing 25. The resilientcharacteristic of bushing 25 expands it into frictional engagement with pipe 17 and holds it from dropping freelythrough said pipe, tending also, of course to prevent it from swinging or becoming cocked within said pipe. As section 21 is thus pushed against the bushing, shoulder 26 engages the bushing angularly, this engagement tending to center section 21 within pipe 17. The angle of shoulder 26 is such that, with known surface characteristics of bushing 25 and saidshoulder, and with a given tendency of bushing 25 to retard friction-ally its bodily advance, said bushing will not be wedged between shoulder 26 and pipet 17 in a manner to prevent bodily advance of, said bushing. While my invention is not limited to the provision of shoulders of any particular angle, I have found that angles between 35 and 40 are particularly effective in causing readiness ofcentering and having a minor tendency towards wedging the bushing against movement bodily, Of course, shoulders 27 and 26 are preferably of substantially equal degree.

As bushing 25 is forced by section 21 into engagement with shoulder 27- of section 22, the angular engagement of said shoulder with the bushing moves the upper end of-said sec tion bodily into coaxial relation with shell 17 and'hence with section 21, this axial alignmentof the two sections being'the desidera mm: The remaining bushings and sections are then assembled on top section 21 inthe- While wire 25 is ordinarily chosen of such diameter that with sections having a given angularcut the bushing will be engaged with said shoulders and pipe 17 at such a time as the adjacent sections come into abutment, if there be any divergence from this particular cross-section dimension of the bushing it will be a slight increase, so the three point contact is assured. However, the diameter offthe wire is never so great but that when the sections are placed underlongitudinal compression the section ends come preferably into firm contact, the material of which the bushing is made preferably being somewhat softer than that of the sections, so. ifthe wire be over-size, the compressive force thus acting against it will cause its slight deformation.

7 In utilizing a bushing of circularcrosssection, such as round wire, even though said bushing be expansible and frictionally engage pipe 17, there may be some tendency for said bushing to cant or cockas it passesthrough the pipe, an obviously undesirable condition. To prevent such canting, I preferably provide the opposed ends of the sections with substantially square-cut shoulders 30 (Fig. 4), i said shoulders leading to the angular lilli shoulders 26, 27. t It. will be seen that as secend contact said shoulders just engage bushing 25, as shown in Fig. 4, it being essential, however, that said shoulders do not engage effectually until it is assured that the bushing is in aligningassociation with the sections and the shell.

Drdfiinorily, hmvever,-=sl1oul (1ers 3Q erei so spaced :trom the, ends of their sections that there will bel01i1gitudina1 clearance (Fig. 5!) between bushing 25 and shoulders 30, r or that the shoulders will justtouch *theibushings Wlmn thesections are in end contact and there-fore in axial alignment, it-thus being insured that said shoulders do not interfere with [proper alignment. I c

c In 6 I have shown a slight modification whereinshoulders 26 and 27? are arcuate or of varying angularityzand merge into the substantially square cut Shoulders 30; With this formation, it will be seen that should the sections be out I of alignment, the leading ingloppositelyinclininginterinal conicalfaces 32 and 33 adapted to engage angdlar shoulders 26 and 27? on the liner-sections; It will beseen that thehushing shown here serves to .guide the sections into "and hold. them "in axial alignment, hut that due to its extent of longitudinal engagement with pipe 117i no means is necessary to hold it from canting. This dorm of bushing is not ordinarily as do sirahle, however, as that shown in the other figures, since, to insure that it have peripheral engagement with pipe it? at the same time that the angular shoulders are in full contact, saidhushing must be quite accurately machinedpwhereasyin the case of the spring wire bushing it is merely necessary tocut the wire to length and give'it ring formation without any particular degree of aricuracy. s )1 1 It will be evident from theahovethat proper alignment cat the sections necessarily calls for the useiof an outer shell having agsirhs'tantia'lly true bore. While the shell bore may *be machined or ground true hyany well known expedient, it is found in "actual practice that pipe of the general nature of scamless, drawn tubing is' suificiently true, as it v comes from" thefrnarketyto insure proper eiig'nment. Should there be slight inaccuracie's ofthe bore at -poin'ts'where the bushing engeges the tubing, these need not necessarily result in causing decentering of the bushings to the full-extent oft he inaccuracies, since the bushings preferably are capab'le of b ing unevenly deformed to an errtent suficient to compensate at leastfor a degree of inaccuracy.

' It will be understood the drawings and description are to be considredmerely as illus- 4 trative of and not restrictive on the broader dggs 31thereof have :ingular engagement claims appended gh'ereto, for various chem ges in'design, structure end anrangement may he made without departing from the spirit and scope of said claims. w'lclaimzc i i 1.111 combinationwith an' outer piperande piurmlity of inner pine-sections :adepted to he iinrangcd end toend within the'onter pipe and tube annuhirly spacedtherefrom,theopposed ends of adj acent sections hcii'ilg out only and oppositely to :prouide an 'uln'mrlar groove of V cross-section between the cndsof-said odg'acent sections, and an align-inghushing'sewb ed within said groove and engaging the inner wallof the outerpipe. a I

2. In comhinwtionwvith an outerpipeamd a pluralityxofinner pipe-sectionsadapted to he arranged en'd t o end within the outer pipe and to be annui'arly spaced therefrom, the opposed ends of adjacent sections being 'cut imgularly and oppositely to provide an annular groove of V-cross-section between the ends of said adjacent sections, and'a radially expansib'le ring seated withinsaid grooveand engaging I the inner wall of the outer pipe.

c 3. In conibinationwith an euter pipean d a plurality of inner pipesections'adapted to he arrangedend to end within the outer pipe'and to beam: ularly spaced therefrom, the opposed ends of adjacent sections being cut angnlarly and oppositely to provide an annular groove of V-cross-section between the ends of said adjacent sectionsfandan aligning bushin 7 'of circular cross-section seated within sai groove and engaging the inner *wall ed? the outerIpipe.- y a w As n combinatlon with an outer pipe and a plurality of inner pipe-sections adapted to he arranged end to end within the outer pipe and to he annularly spacedtherefrom, the opand to he annularly'spnced therefrom, the opposed ends of adjacent sectionsheing cut angular-1y and oppositely to provide an annua iar groove of V-cross-section between the ends of said adfiacent sections, an ali; nin hnshin or cimincross secticii seat whines groove and engaging the inner wall of the outer-pipe,'1and opposed,suhstantiai'ly squarecut shoulders on the ends of said adjacent sections and extending between the external eripherai "faccs'the'reof towards said angn or In combination with an outerpipe and a plurality of inner pipe-sections adapted to be c arranged end to end within the outer pipe and bushing Within said groove, said bushing entobe annularly spaced therefrom, the opposed gaging the inner Wall of the outer pipe and ends of adjacent sections being out angularly said opposed groove-defining Walls. 10 and oppositely to provide an annular groove In Witness that I claim the foregoing I have 5 between the ends of said adjacent sections, the hereunto subscribed my name this 10th day of groove-defining walls of said adjacent sec- September, 1926. V tions being in opposition, and an aligning LYSLE P. BURGESS. 

